The Fall of Tal al-Za'atar Camp

The Fall of Tal al-Za'atar Camp

Document | The Tal al-Za'atar camp for Palestinian refugees was established in 1949 on a one square-kilometer Maronite endowment land in the east Beirut canton. During the Lebanese civil war, the camp witnessed a momentous massacre. More than 2,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, were killed after forces affiliated with the Kataeb (Phalange) Party and its allies imposed a draconian siege on the camp that lasted for several weeks. The siege ended on August 12, 1976, when the camp fell, and the forces entered it.